By D. Burleson

On Training 

During a recent discussion at the Advanced Wealth Attraction & Time Management Academy, then again via question on my private coaching call and finally AGAIN this week in several faxes, the topic of employee training keeps popping up over and over.

 

This leads me to believe that the topic is of interest and high importance. It also leads me to believe I should cover it in more depth. Even if you’ve had the same employees for 30 years, there’s still an important need for training in your practice.  

 

Let’s explore:

 

Training, as defined by DePhillips, Berliner and Cribbin (the grandfathers of employee training programs as far back as the 1960’s) is “that process which, under company auspices, seeks in a planned, co-coordinated and continuous manner to develop in all employees those understandings, skills and attitudes, which will maximize the individual present and future efficiency and the effectiveness of the over-all company operation.”

 

Several areas of that definition should catch your attention.

 

First, planned and co-ordinated. Most doctor’s offices have random and haphazard training programs that are as unsophisticated as, “just follow Mary around and she will show you the ropes.” Most doctors never consider that the best training companies in the world, like Disney, Capital Grille and the Ritz Carlton, spend 120 hours with new employees before they are ever allowed to be in front of a guest or client on their own.

 

Compare the Ritz or Capital Grille to the systems you see in most doctor’s offices. It’s not hard to see why so many doctor’s offices are run so poorly. When’s the last time you went home and just HAD to tell your spouse about your AMAZING experience at the doctor’s office? 

 

Second, the word “continuous” in the definition by DePhillips, Berliner and Cribbin is a convenient aspect we all tend to leave out of our training. In my private consultations with new clients and in the reports I see back from our in-office trainers, a common complaint amongst private practice owners is “I’ve told my employees a million times and they still won’t get with the program.”

 

People go out of calibration just like machines go out of calibration. And, because of that, we’ve committed to continuous training with randomized pop-quizzes every week, recalibration on the spot if needed and recalibration in team components (clinic, administrative, treatment coordinators, associate doctors, lab, etc) every month. Many of you know this training system. If you aren’t familiar with our training systems, it’s time to schedule one of my in-office coordinators for a visit to your practice.

 

For those who need more detail,

here’s when we believe training is indicated: 

For new employees:

  • When increasing the number of team members / during growth
  • When there is an increase in turnover of those with less than 1 year on the job
  • When hiring employees who have just graduated from school or college

For seasoned employees:

  • When production / revenue per employee drops significantly
  • When new employees outperform seasoned employees
  • When there is a labor shortage of highly-qualified employees
  • When employees grow indifferent, stale or careless
  • When moving an employee to a new area of the practice

For all employees:

  • When introducing a new product, service, location, associate or hours
  • When introducing a new marketing or advertising campaign
  • When changing a new method of clinical care delivery
  • When patient complaints increase
  • When dentist referrals decrease
  • When patient referrals decrease
  • When wait times go up
  • When broken bracket % goes up
  • When average treatment time goes up
  • When an employee expresses a desire to take on more responsibility / raise

 It all starts with the right vision and then comes to life through effective training programs.

 Deliver Service Now Institute with Vance Morris, a Disney executive for over 10 years who now trains large and medium-size companies how to deliver “Wow!” customer service.